


Lucky

by Madness_of_Xara



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Cute, Don't worry XD, Drunk Blair, EXO - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Gets arm back, Loss of arm, Mentions of alcohol, Set in Rise of Iron, Titan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2018-09-21 22:19:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9569207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madness_of_Xara/pseuds/Madness_of_Xara
Summary: This was a commission :v





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DazzleMyRazzle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DazzleMyRazzle/gifts).



“Guardian, there’s a Fallen dropship coming in hot in your area, and-.”

“I swear to all that is holy that if you say ‘there’s a Walker,’ I am going to deck you when I get back to the Temple.”

“…I won’t say it then.”

“I hate you.”

Blair-13 sighed heavily, feeling tired and weak, relying solely on her small amount of reserve energy that she had left at this point. She felt like absolute shit after fighting off wave after wave of Splicer Fallen, and all she wanted to do was go back to the Tower and fall asleep in her apartment for a few hours. Unfortunately, she made a promise to a certain Exo Vanguard that she would go to the Plaguelands and help clear out the Splicer Fallen that had made their residence there. She had tried to be patient, trying not to lose her temper whenever she was provoked. Ironically, a random Vandal had been an unfortunate victim of her temper when it had kept shooting her then immediately hid behind a structure to keep it safe from her bullets.

It was now lying dead in the snow somewhere, Blair couldn’t bother to remember where, not really caring in the grand scheme of things, missing a leg and all of its arms. Thank the Traveler nobody had been around to see her torture the poor thing.

They would have thought that she was insane!

After that little incident, her Ghost had suggested just venting her emotions verbally. It seemed that he was scarred by her actions which made her feel bad. She didn’t mean to scare her one and only companion, and she knew then that she should take his advice, apologizing to him. Whenever Shiro-4 started to contact her about waves of Fallen and dropships and whatnot, she was feeling better.

Now, with pierced and cracked armor, torn mark, low ammunition, and exhaustion washing through her body, Blair was feeling a bit bitter and cranky. It didn’t help that it seemed that the amount of Fallen didn’t appear to be letting up anytime soon.

“After she kills the Walker, I’m taking her home,” her Ghost said, pulling the Exo woman out of her thoughts. “She can’t handle much more in her current state, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to end up like other Ghosts who lose their Guardians.”

There was silence for a moment. “Gotcha,” Shiro finally answered. “I appreciate everything you two have done today. Make it home safe, will ya?”

“We’ll certainly try.”

“Thanks…” Blair murmured softly to her Ghost.

“Yeah, well… You haven’t looked this bad since you fought off Oryx.”

Blair would have scrunched up her nose if she had one. “Don’t remind me. That was terrifying.”

“Now it seems like a walk in the park, huh?”

She thought about it. “Nah. Fighting off the King of all things evil that could drain my Light? With hordes of Taken coming at me from all sides? I would rather that than have to deal with these SIVA infused freaks of nature. Not to mention that at least the Taken didn’t swarm me like these things do. With Taken, I could at least hide for a few minutes and get some breathing room.”

“It _does_ seem like you can’t stop to breathe lately without something shooting you from afar…”

Blair took a deep breath, deciding then to take a deep breath and relax some. She then stood and began to sprint towards where she had to go. Once there, she began to fire at all hostiles, making sure that she could duck behind cover whenever possible. When she saw the Walker, she made sure that she wouldn’t be shot down immediately, poking out of her cover long enough to get a few good shots at the Walker’s legs. When she crippled one leg, she shot at its exposed weak point. She then hid back behind her cover, taking a simulated swallow. She was almost there after around ten minutes of continuous fighting. She was running even lower than before on ammo, and she didn’t see any ammo on the ground, despite the number of enemies that she had already taken down, having not wanted to deal with them shooting at her whenever she decided to try and take a shot on the biggest threat of all.

They were fighting her ten to one, and if you added in the fire power of the Walker itself, it would be more like twenty to one.

She shot at the Walker once more, ducking in time to avoid its explosive rounds. She cursed lowly. “If this keeps up…” she grumbled to herself. She came out of her cover once more, shooting at its legs again.

“ _Look out_!” her Ghost screamed.

It was too late.

The Walker shot its rounds, and while most of them hit the cover she was using, one lucky round hit her arm roughly, effectively destroying the armor that covered it and severely damaging her metal flesh. She screamed in pain, falling back on the ground. She rolled to her side, using the several inches of snow that was underneath her to cool her suddenly heated arm, grinding her mouth plates together roughly. She saw a Splicer Dreg approaching her and reached for her forgotten gun. It looked at her evenly and kicked it just out of her reach.

For the first time in a long time, Blair was suddenly very, very afraid, staring up in horror as the Dreg leveled the barrel of its gun towards her.

As it started to pull the trigger, she clenched her optics shut tightly, trembling. _I don’t want to die_ … she thought weakly.

All at once, the cold of the Plaguelands was replaced with the chilled air of her ship, the snow being replaced with cooled metal. She hesitantly opened her optics and let out a shuttering sigh of relief.

“That was way too close,” her Ghost exclaimed, freaking out some above her. “I’m taking you home, _right now_!” He put in the coordinates and seemed to sigh, his frantic movements slowing down some the further from danger they got. “That Walker was too much… If I had warned you sooner…”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Blair told him softly, sitting up some. She gave him an appreciative look, pulling off her helmet with her good arm. Odd. She couldn’t move her injured one. Probably from shock. She tossed the piece of armor aside, her white eyes looking down at her arm. She cringed. “If anything, I’m just glad you acted fast enough to grab me and get me out of there… That Dreg would have been the end of me…” She stood, cupping her injury in her hand. “Thank you.”

Her Ghost turned to her and blinked some, his shell spinning idly. She could hear the smile in his voice as he said, “I couldn’t let you die. You’re my Guardian, after all.”

“And you’re my Ghost,” smiled Blair. She let go of her injury and cupped him gently. He relaxed in her hold, as though floating about had tired him out. “The best one around. I dunno what I would do without you. Really.” She held him gently, going over to the small work table she had. She set him down on its surface and stroked his shell affectionately. “Before I get any sleep, though, I’m going to have to have my arm looked at. I think the Walker managed to fry some important circuits, either that, or my arm is going through the organic equivalent of shock.”

He looked up at her and slowly floated up, scanning her wound. He appeared to cringe. “The circuits are fried. I’m surprised your arm is still attached with how bad it looks in there.”

“Think I’ll need to get a new one?”

“Looks like it. It would be a lot more efficient if we just replaced the whole thing.”

“Too much damage?”

“Let’s put it this way… I’m normally optimistic, but getting your arm repaired as it is… You’ll be lucky if it’ll respond half the time. And you kind of need it to fight.”

Blair sighed and shook her head. “Damn Walker. It got lucky.” She peeled off her armor, slowly but surely, just tossing it aside, not really caring where it landed. Her Ghost set to work on gathering it all up, placing it in her inventory storage. Once she was undressed, she hopped down from the table and went to her sink. She grabbed a rag and wetted it down before beginning to scrub the grime off of her metal plating. Once she was clean, she went to her storage unit and grabbed her Future War Cult tank top and black cargo pants, slipping them on. She then grabbed her tennis shoes and slipped them on as well.

Once she was dressed in her casual clothing, Blair laid on the floor, sprawled out, enjoying the feeling of cold against her back. She felt her ship dock and sighed softly, sitting up. “I’ll go see Amanda. She’s an engineer, so she might be able to make me a new arm.” She stood, her Ghost vanishing into thin air. She then exited her ship and made her way through the docking bay. The hustle and bustle of the Tower relaxed her nerves, reminding her why she fought as hard and as long as she did. It was for the people that she saw every day in the Tower. The civilians, both adults and children, the people who couldn’t defend themselves against the Darkness like she could, like the Guardians could. It wasn’t something that they could do just willy nilly.

Without Blair and people like her, she knew the Darkness would have consumed them all already.

The thought of that happening chilled her to the core.

Blair was greeted kindly by numerous strangers, and she returned it with her uninjured arm. Some stopped and asked what had happened. She told them the short of it, that it got really damaged out there on the battlefield. Many of those who had stopped to ask told her they hoped that she could get it fixed. She appreciated every one of them. Once she found Amanda Holliday, perched up on her usual crate looking over some schematics for a new ship, she made a sound as though she were clearing her throat. The woman looked up at her and smiled. It wavered some when she saw the wound. “You look like you ran into trouble out there, Guardian,” she commented, putting down the schematics and hopping down off of her crate. She took a good look and cringed. “Yeesh. What happened?”

“Splicer Fallen Walker. It got a lucky shot in,” Blair explained. “I need a new arm entirely. I can’t even move the one I got cause of that thing.”

Amanda shook her head, frowning some. “Normally, I would suggest just a quick repair and send you off to another engineer, but this… I’ll have to remove this one first so I can look it over and see how it was designed. Is that alright?”

Blair nodded, sitting down so that the woman could do what she needed to do.

To say it was painful was an understatement.

The scream Blair let out, despite her best efforts to try and muffle it, when the circuits were unhooked between her shoulder and torso probably caused several ears to ring. You would think that being an Exo, she wouldn’t be able to feel it, but unfortunately, she could because they had built her in such a way that she was able to simulate touch. And in doing so, she had pain sensors, so essentially having her arm removed was like actually having the damn thing ripped off of her body. Once it was removed, she took a deep breath and tilted her head back, her chest rising and falling in simulated breathing. “Never again,” she murmured after a moment, her head finally clearing of the murky fog that had flooded it while the pain lingered.

Amanda had already set to work on blue printing the design of the arm. “Well, next time, make sure that you don’t let another Walker have a lucky shot, then, yeah?” She looked up at Blair and frowned a little at the exposed circuitry. She grabbed a plate of metal and soon fashioned a patch with it and some lengthy pieces of leather strips. She then tied it onto the woman, covering the gap her amputated arm had left behind. “There. To keep it covered until I make your replacement.” She offered her a smile and a pat on the back. “Now, go get some rest, okay? You look like Hell.”

Blair tapped the metal that covered the hole, listening some to the noise it made when metal tapped metal. She then nodded. “Alrighty…” she said softly. She got up and looked over at her. “Let me know when my new arm is finished up?”

“Of course.”

With that, Blair smiling a little and went down to her apartment, flopping back on her bed. It was most definitely a welcome feeling to sink into after the day she had.

“Guardian, sorry about what happened,” she heard Shiro say out of nowhere. She blinked and sat up before realizing that it was coming from her Ghost. She sighed and laid back down.

“Yeah, well… I’m gonna deck you.”

“But I didn’t say anything about a Walker.” There was a smile to his voice, one of amusement. It then turned concerned and serious. “How bad was the damage?”

“How did you-?”

“Your Ghost gave me a bit of a chewing out.”

Blair wanted to question when that happened when she remembered that he had the ability to form messages in silence before sending them out to their designated recipients. “What did he say?”

“That you nearly died and needed an arm replacement.” Blair huffed some in agitation while Shiro continued, “I’m really sorry. If I had been more thoughtful about your well-being, I would have actually thought of pulling you out of there sooner before anything happened at all. You almost died today, and that’s all on me.”

“It’s whatever.”

“Not whatever. My need to get the next wave out of the Plaguelands permanently nearly killed you.”

“It seems to be a recurring habit of Exo Hunters, I’ve noticed.”

“I’m being serious.”

“So am I.”

There was silence for a moment before Blair laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“The fact that I’m at fault here, too. I could have just told you to bite me and left. But I didn’t because I was too stubborn to actually listen to my gut.”

A sigh came from Shiro then. He was smiling again. “Guess it comes with being an Exo, huh?”

“Some of us are a lot more stubborn than others,” smiled Blair. All the agitation she had seemed to ebb away. “It wasn’t your fault, Shiro. Not all of it, anyways.”

Shiro snorted. “Tell you what, I’ll cover the cost of your new arm, okay?”

“Got it,” Blair mused softly. “Also, no more working for me, not for a while. I gotta get a new arm first and foremost, then calibrate it and then _maybe_ I’ll work for you again out in the Plaguelands. Maybe. As long as you promise _no more fucking Walkers_.”

“Deal,” chuckled the male Exo. “Thinking of it… Is there any chance of you coming out to the Iron Temple in the meantime? Or no? Cause I can come to the Tower if you want me to.”

“And miss out on the chance to pet all those wolves that hang out around there? Hell no. I’ll come to the Temple myself. Just… Not for a couple days. I really need to rest.”

“Understood. Let me know when you’re heading over, alright?”

“Roger that,” Blair said. The communication went silent after that. She closed her optics and rolled onto her armless side, splaying her fingers across the soft fabric of her sheets. This was another reason why she fought like she did – she could appreciate the finer things in life and never get tired of them, always appreciate them, and enjoy them. She nuzzled her face into the sheets and hummed softly. “Well, at the very least, if anything good came out of today… I get to have a few days off to relax and clear my mind… No Darkness, no Traveler, no Fallen or Hive or Vex or even Cabal or Taken. None of that… Just an Exo woman just relaxing in the last city on Earth, taking a breather after three years of fighting for it to keep standing.” She gave off a tired giggle. “I’m going to be excited to pet all those wolves… Especially the ones up on the side of the mountain. I’m going to pet each and every single one of them.”

As she began to imagine the soft, warm feel of the fur of each wolf at the Iron Temple, she felt herself beginning to drift off into a blissful sleep, her body slowly melting into the bed. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep, her body completely lax and her simulated breathing slow and even. A blanket materialized over her body, her Ghost appearing above her. He seemed to smile at the sight of his Guardian finally getting some well deserved rest. “Good night, Blair,” he said softly before vanishing once more from sight.


	2. Chapter 2

A few days later, Blair was soon standing before the Iron Temple, her eyes looking up as the snow fell from the light gray clouds above. She kind of found that a part of her missed the soft chill of the wintery weather, the slightly noisy crunch of snow under her boots, and the gentle breeze that caused the woman to shiver some, her heating processors working at keeping her warm and not locking up. She wore a dark blue parka with brown fur lining, not to mention a thick sweater underneath to keep her from having to rely solely on her processors to keep her warm at all times. It was akin to body heat, in a way. She also wore blue jeans and knee high combat boots. The sleeve that would have held one arm flapped softly in the air beside her.

She went over to the entrance of the bridge, smiling some as Shiro’s eyes lit up in pleasant surprise. “Hey,” she greeted softly.

“I thought I told you to let me know when you were coming?” the male mused, a smile in his voice. “Or did you forget?”

“I… chose to surprise you.”

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

“…Yeah, I did.” Blair giggled softly, her eyes brighter than usual. “I knew there was something that I was forgetting when I left my apartment this morning. Ah, well. Too late now.”

“Don’t worry. I forgive you.” Shiro winked and chuckled softly. “You want to go sit by the fire? Across the bridge, in the tower, I mean.” He jutted his head some in the direction of the looming tower across the way.

“Sure,” nodded the female Exo. They made their way across the bridge, careful of the ice that coated some parts of the wooden planks. Once they were safely across, they sat down beside the fire pit. Feeling something warm rest in her lap all of a sudden, she looked down and was surprised at the sight before her. “Now, since when did you get here?” In her lap was the head of one of the wolves that resided there at the Temple, looking up at her with kind, tamed eyes. She placed a gentle hand on top of its head, lightly stroking its fur. It was warm and soft, just as she thought it would be, with a touch of a mangy feeling. Possibly just from being outside more often than not, if the woman had to make a guess.

“Huh. Usually, they don’t approach people on their own,” Shiro mused, raising a brow some in surprise. “At least from what I’ve been able to tell.” He seemed to smile at the Titan. “It must recognize you as an Iron Lord.”

Blair gave a bit of a silent shrug, tilting her head some, her focus on the wolf beside her. “Maybe…” she whispered softly. A few moments passed by in utter silence, neither of them speaking, just listening to the soft crackle of the fire before them as it licked the air above its pit, Blair petting the wolf as Shiro watched with mild interest. It felt a bit awkward, in a way, as though Shiro had wanted to say something but just couldn’t find the words to say it. Then…

“Sorry again… About the other day,” he said in a low, hushed voice. “I… I should have realized that your stamina was running low and that you were tired… You shouldn’t have been put in that situation, with the Walker? But I forced you into it and I didn’t even think about your safety and well being. It was just a matter of clearing those Splicers out of the Plaguelands, every single one of them… I forgot the most basic rule of being a Vanguard scout – never _ever_ risk the lives of those doing patrols for you. Ever. It’s too risky and you risk having the death of a Guardian on your hands. There’s never enough of us to fight the Darkness, and for every one Guardian that dies, a thousands more… minions… survive to kill another one. So if you had died-.”

“Stop,” Blair told him, holding up her hand right then. “You have nothing to apologize for. Got it? It’s just as much my fault as it is yours. But…” She offered him a kind smile, or at least she tried. Kind of hard to actually smile when you don’t actually have lips. “I do appreciate the thought.”

Shiro hesitated some before a sigh escaped his vocal processors. “Is there anything that I can do to make it up to you?” he asked her then, his eye lights dim with guilt. “Outside of paying for your arm, I mean.” Before she could tell him that he didn’t need to do anything further, that paying for the arm was enough for her to be satisfied, he held up a hand, silencing her. “Think about it before you say anything.” He dropped his hand back to his lap. “I wouldn’t feel right about the whole situation otherwise.”

The woman frowned a bit to herself, looking down at the wolf in thought. Was there anything that she absolutely needed before going back out on the field? She still had her Ghost, to which she was rather thankful for, and she still had her armor and grenades… Her optics widened with sudden realization.

Her guns were lost in the Plaguelands.

“My guns,” she said then, looking back over at Shiro. “When the Walker hit me, I dropped my auto rifle… and my sniper, too. I was using both in the fight…”

“And your heavy?”

“I still have it. But my sniper rifle and my auto rifle… I put a lot of work into those. I need them before going back out into the fight.”

Shiro nodded in understanding. “Then I’ll get them back for you.”

“I’ll send over the information,” her Ghost piped up.

“Thanks,” Shiro nodded.

Blair smiled. “I think it’s me who needs to thank you,” she mused softly to him.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Shiro informed her. His eye lights seemed just the tiniest bit brighter now. “It’s only the right thing to do, after all.”

Smiling a bit more, Blair laid her hand over his own, giving it a gentle squeeze. Shiro gave her a surprised look before relaxing, turning his hand over to hold hers in return.

The wolf looked at the Exos’ connected hands, tilting its head some. It didn’t seem to be a threatening gesture, and it made the both of them happy, at least from what it could tell. It relaxed once more when it felt Blair begin to scratch behind its ear, closing its eyes blissfully.

A moment of silence went by before Shiro mused, “You know… You’re a really impressive woman.” That comment caught the woman by surprise, but he pressed onwards, “You look like you’re naturally good with animals… You’re dedicated, no matter what it is that you’re doing… Like honing your skills or seeing a mission through to its end… And I’ve seen your work with a gun. You’re absolutely astounding.” He rubbed the back of his neck shyly. “I’ve seen your Crucible stats. They are astonishing. An average kill to death ratio of four to one? That’s really good. And I know you’re improving every day because… Well, you’re _you_. Even when the odds are against you out there, whether it be in the Crucible or the field, you manage to survive with only a few scratches here and there. Sometimes, if that.” He looked as flustered as Blair felt right then.

“O-oh, it’s nothing special,” she said, trying to play humble. “I just… I let my survival instinct kick in. Thinking too much when there’s bullets being tossed back and forth only ends with you getting killed or cowering in a corner without doing anything.”

Shiro chuckled, lightly squeezing her hand without much thought. “That’s a pretty amazing survival instinct, then…” he said softly. They both glanced down to their connected hands and paused before looking back up at one another, optics blinking. Before either of them realized what they were doing, they were slowly leaning in, their optic shutters slowly falling closed. Their mouth plates were mere inches from each other-.

“Ahem!”

They both jumped, looking around for the offending voice. Blair’s ghost appeared before them, giving them both a scolding look. “I’m still _here_ , you know,” he huffed.

Blair pulled away her hand, and if she had blood, she was sure that her cheeks would be burning. “R-right. S-sorry about that…” She looked over at Shiro shyly. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“S-same here,” Shiro admitted, though just a touch crestfallen. He stood and helped her up. “I… I think I should get back to my post, yeah?” He lightly patted her shoulder. “I’ll see you later.”

The female Exo swallowed and nodded, looking at him shyly still. “Yeah. Keep in touch, will you? Especially when you go down to the Plaguelands. Only one of us is allowed to be on hold, and right now, that’s me.” She had a bit of a playful look about her now, though still a tad embarrassed. “I’m going to head back to the City. I’ll come see you tomorrow…?” She looked a little hopeful.

He did too. “Of course.”

With that, the two parted ways with the hopes of seeing one another again soon.

Once back on board her ship, Blair went over to her work bench and lightly touched the cold metal of her Iron Gallajhorn, tilting her head a little to the side. She wondered what would have actually happened if her Ghost had not intervened, how Shiro’s mouth plates would have felt against her own… Would they have pulled away in surprise at themselves? Or would they have melted into the kiss, into one another?

The possibilities bother Blair a bit, and rightly so. After all, she had only met Shiro a few months ago, when the Iron Temple was first opened to the public. They had needed a Vanguard scout out there to survey the new threat, to contain it where it was and come up with, and ultimately implement, plans to get rid of it. Sadly, even after the destruction of Siva, it still had its horrendous roots dug in deep into the Plaguelands, infecting the Fallen there and drawing out numerous Hive…

They had a lot of work to do, and only so much time to do it.

Given that, though… Wouldn’t it only be natural for her to try and find a boyfriend? She cringed at the label. As a Titan, a warrior of the Traveler, destined to fight off the Darkness using the Light that had been given to her… The word ‘boyfriend’ sounded childish and strange. So… Maybe don’t use that word, she figured. Maybe just a person to date? Ugh. She would have to think about it. Anyways, finding someone to date, though not her priority, was something that she definitely did want to do. Just… She didn’t know how to go about it, especially with how busy her usual schedule was.

Was she only seeing Shiro as a possibility now because she actually had some time to catch her breath? And if so… Was it only a brief feeling or would it persist?

A secret part of her really hoped that it would persist if only so that she could justify pulling him close and kissing him the next time she saw him.

Blair quickly shook her head, chastising herself. “When we get home, I’m going to do a bit of grocery shopping,” she announced. Yes, shopping. Because what else was a better pass time and thus, a way to clear one’s head than to shop for things you need and possibly even things that you would really like to have? There was nothing better, at least in Blair’s eyes.

“Do I need to make a list?” her Ghost questioned. Blair shook her head.

“I’m just gonna wing it and hope for the best,” she said. Until they returned to the City, though, she remained thinking about Shiro, about his glowing teal eyes and large, golden cloak… Most Hunters kept the hood tied in tight around their necks, but Shiro… His cloak was practically cupping his shoulders. His large, broad shoulders… It must have been tied in with the orange cloth around his throat so as to keep it from just slipping off of his body. He even wore rather impressive gear, and Blair figured that he earned every single piece he wore, and he appeared to wear it with pride.

She hopped from foot to foot, something some Exos did, she noticed, when they got antsy. Especially Exo Hunters. She was itching for activity, something exciting and adventurous and just outright _fun_. Unfortunately, she was not going to be very good at dealing with her itch until she got her new arm. She paused.

Unless…

She cursed at herself, quickly shaking her head.

“Bad Blair,” she grumbled at herself, huffing some. “See if your feelings last, and if they’re still there the next time you see him, _then_ you can think about that…”


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a few days since then. Blair had visited Shiro a couple of times, though she had mostly stayed in the Tower getting some well deserved rest. She had even gotten some tune ups across the rest of her body, backed up her memory drive, and practically felt as good as new! She even went to a little salon type deal in the outskirts of the City, getting a nice buff and polish on her metal skin. She had never felt so _clean_ before! As for her visits with Shiro, the both of them had played off the almost-kiss that they had, pretending that it never happened. It still lingered in the back of the Titan’s mind, of course, but for the sake of keeping the friendship as it was, the woman didn’t want to bring it up and ask the big what if question that had been lingering in her mind. Not until she knew that it was bugging the Vanguard Hunter as well.

Now cleaned up, refreshed, and well rested, Blair had decided to go and pay Shiro a visit at the Iron Temple. It felt like she was getting addicted to his presence, but surely not. It was just that she had missed some true companionship outside of her Ghost ever since she woke up in the Cosmodrome all that time ago. Right? Right. That had to be it.

Once she arrived at the Iron Temple, the woman went immediately to where she had thought the male would be.

Except…

Well, he wasn’t there.

Blair was admittedly a little confused, but then she figured that he most likely had gone off for a walk or even a short patrol around the Temple to make sure that there wasn’t anything trying to get in that shouldn’t. She checked around, just to be sure. When she couldn’t find hide or hair of the man, she felt herself frown on the inside. Strange… She decided that the best person to ask then would be Lord Saladin – he would have a pretty good idea as to where the Hunter went. After all, Shiro pretty much worked with him for the most part.

“Lord Saladin?” Blair called from the stairs as she climbed up them. The large man blinked in confusion before looking over to the woman. “You wouldn’t happen to know where Shiro ran off to, would you?”

Saladin hummed as the woman came to stand before him. “As far as I know, Shiro should be down in the Plaguelands. He left early this morning and hasn’t come back since.” Seeing the worry in Blair’s optics, he added, “I’m sure that he’s alright. After all, he’s part of the Vanguard. He knows how to take care of himself.”

Still worried, Blair nodded. She knew that the male was right, but… something was eating at her. Maybe she was just overthinking it. “Thank you,” she said softly before walking away. She sighed softly to herself before catching sight of one of the many wolves around the Temple. Hmm…

She would have to wait, then, until Shiro returned.

Blair sat around for a while, petting the wolf that she had seen earlier. Then another once the first one had its fill. And then another, then another. Really, the wolves seemed to love Blair for some reason. Maybe she used to work at a wolf sanctuary before becoming an Exo. It would make some semblance of sense. Maybe. Huh. Maybe if she-.

A blink later and the thought was lost.

Ah, right.

Not allowed to remember the life before.

Bah.

Not that it mattered anymore anyways. She wasn’t whoever she used to be anymore. She was Blair-13, an Exo Titan. A Sunbreaker at that, too. She was a Guardian, sworn to protect the Tower, the City, the solar system as it existed and all of its people from the Darkness that threatened to destroy everyone and everything it touched. She was an Iron Lord, sworn to fight against whatever remained of SIVA in the Cosmodrome and to protect the Iron Temple from invaders.

If her human self could see her now, she would think herself a super hero, unstoppable and amazing.

That thought brought a slight smile to Blair’s optics.

It isn’t long until Shiro returned to the Iron Temple, looking utterly exhausted and worn down from battle. He must have been fighting long and hard down in the Plaguelands to look that beat up. On his back, there was a huge bundle of… something strapped against him. It was big and covered in what appeared to be an old cloak of some fashion. When his optics caught sight of Blair sitting on the snow, a wolf resting its head in her lap, he perked up, the lights in his face brightening at the sight. It was almost as if seeing her caused his exhaustion to evaporate into thin air. He jogged over to her before sliding down in front of her, hurriedly pulling the bundle off his back. “S-sorry for not coming back sooner. I was down in the Plaguelands looking for… well, _these_!” With that, he undid the cloak, peeling back the fabric to show two very familiar guns.

Shadow Price. A really nice Auto Rifle that bore the Vanguard’s emblem. With some modifications, the magazine size was a bit more than what it had been and the recoil was almost nonexistent. It was one of Blair’s favorites, not to mention it had saved her numerous times against the Hive and Taken whenever they seemed to find her. It was a little banged up, but it would appear that it was still in perfect working order. Really, that was all Blair would care about. Cosmetics didn’t really matter a whole hell of a lot to her in the long run. As long as it fired and it didn’t backlash on her, she didn’t care.

Devil’s Dawn. It was the one and only Sniper Rifle that Blair had ever owned, but she found that it was easily superior to any other Sniper Rifle that she had ever come across. She always joked that it looked a bit like a miniature harpoon launcher, but… well, she still loved the damn thing. Hell, in Crucible, it was always worth finding the high vantage point to snipe people from just to watch them use their ultimate abilities and, well… _ultimately_ get shot down in one go, wasting it. Many Guardians hated that she used it, but she would always defend herself by saying she was still playing fair. Even Shaxx agreed! As for the modifications that she used, well… she modified the scope a bit to get better precision and fixed its stability issues.

Overall, Blair was _very_ happy to have her guns back.

A quick up close examination made her sigh in relief. The Splicers hadn’t gotten a hold of them. Or at the very least, they didn’t make any modifications to them. Good. She smiled at Shiro, resting the guns beside her. Her Ghost took them, tucking them away safely on her ship via transmat. “Thank you, Shiro,” the Titan woman said. “I hope that getting them back wasn’t too hard…”

Shiro shrugged, sitting a bit more properly on the ground. “It was a little bit. Only just because some Splicers had snatched them up. I fought hard to get them back. Damn Splicer that had the Sniper Rifle damn near got me a few times.” His optics seemed to show that he was smiling, though. “Otherwise, it was a piece of cake.”

“Why don’t I buy you a drink later at the Tower?” Blair offered. It wasn’t a date, she told herself. Just two friends hanging out and having a drink together. That was it. At least that was what she was trying to tell herself.

“What’s the occasion?” asked Shiro with some amusement.

“Well… You worked really hard on getting my guns back. How else am I supposed to pay you back, yeah? Besides… Saving my guns means you’re keeping them out of enemy hands. I can only imagine the damage they could cause with them.” Blair rubbed the back of their neck at that, grinning a little. She was right, though. If the enemy had her guns, there was no telling what damage they could cause!

The Hunter chuckled before nodding. “Yeah, alright. I’ll take you up on that.” He stood before offering her a hand. “I guess I’ll see you later then?”

“Yeah,” Blair smiled. Oh, it was hard to keep the giddiness out of her voice as she bade him farewell, saying that she would see him later. Once aboard her ship, she was practically bouncing. After returning to the Tower, she quickly washed up, got changed into some nice casual clothing – a plain white tank top, sweat pants, and some sneakers, and holstered a Hand Cannon to her thigh. Just in case there was an attack. Really, one could never be too careful.

Blair tried to pass the time in whatever ways she could. She listened to music, did some mild cleaning, read a little bit… However, it seemed like time was moving by _so_ slow. Probably because she was anticipating her little outing with Shiro a little too much. However, the time did pass and she soon received a message saying that the male was on his way. She hurried out to the loading docks just as the male’s ship arrived. He was still dressed in his Vanguard attire, but Blair didn’t mind. She took his hand and led the way to the bar.

“Whiskey on the rocks,” Shiro had mused once they sat down. The bartender looked expectantly at Blair then.

“Just a shot of vodka,” smiled Blair. Drinks soon in hand, the pair smiled at one another. “Cheers. To getting SIVA out of the Plaguelands and keeping my weapons away from the enemy.”

“Cheers,” chuckled Shiro. While he sipped his whiskey, Blair downed the shot of vodka with ease. The rest of the night seemed to end up being nothing more than a blur as the next morning, Blair was waking up in bed, groaning as the light pierced her optics. Since when did Exos get hungover? She tried to roll over, but there was something behind her, holding her. She was about to panic until she heard it shift some.

“Mm… Morning…” murmured the familiar voice of Shiro.

Blair’s eyes immediately went wide. What did she _do_ last night?!

Shiro sat up some, stretching. “How are you feeling?”

“H-hungover… But… Wh-why are you in my bed?”

“Huh? Oh. That. Yeah, well, last night, you drank _a lot_ of vodka. I honestly lost track after about five or six shots in, and I know you had more than that. We were dancing but you ended up so drunk you could barely keep yourself up. I was a little drunk, but I knew that it would be best to take you home. I carried you here with the help of your Ghost. I was going to lay you down and get you some water and medicine to help kill the hangover, but you clung to me and wouldn’t let go,” hummed the male before shrugging a little. “Your Ghost got the things for us, though, it looks like.” Leaning over to the night stand, he picked up a bottle of pills and a glass of water. “Come on. Sit up and take these. I’ll dim the lights a little bit so you aren’t dying from light sensitivity.”

Blair did as he asked with a low groan, scrunching up her optics. She took the pills and sat them in her lap before taking the water. She sipped it some, easing the dry, itchy sensation at the back of her throat. Damn servos and gears. She would have to get some cleansing oils back there to ease up the stalling parts. Water soothed the transmitters some, though, so it didn’t feel as painful. The lights were soon dimmed and Shiro returned, opening the bottle and providing a few pills for Blair to take. They were especially made for Exos with Microbots sealed inside. The outer casing would melt and the Microbots would go about throughout the woman and repair any damage that would be causing the hangover. Really, it was a wonder of engineering!

After they both took some pills, they relaxed, resting a bit close. Neither of them realized it until they actually took a good look at the distance between the both of them. They paused, eyes wide. Both were quiet for a moment before they slowly started to lean forward, much like they had before.

When their lip plates touched, it was amazing…

But also extremely awkward, because… well…

They didn’t exactly have _lips_. Just lip _plates_.

They laughed a little awkwardly, but they were happy. Bashful smiles were conveyed from both of them.

Maybe it _had_ been a date.

Too bad Blair didn’t really remember it.

Ah well.


End file.
